WHITTIER – A Norwalk man is expected to be arraigned today on charges he allegedly carjacked a driver over the weekend.

Richard Reyes, 19, was arrested Saturday morning after a police dog found him hiding in a Norwalk backyard, according to sheriffs Sgt. Craig Harman.

Reyes was booked on suspicion of carjacking and was held on $100,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear today in Bellflower Superior Court.

The carjacking happened at 12:30 a.m. Saturday in the 8700 block of Ocean View Avenue in Whittier. The victim told officers he left the Plush Que and was walking toward his blue Ford Explorer when a purple Honda carrying four men stopped him and asked, “where is the party?” according to Whittier police Officer Diana Salazar.

The victim told them that he was not coming from a party. When he opened his car door and got in, police said one of the men put a gun to the victim’s head and ordered him to hand over the keys.

The gunman left with the Explorer, followed by the Honda. Deputies tracked the Explorer to the area of Excelsior Drive and Gridley Road.

Harman said the vehicle pulled over and the driver ran off. Deputies closed off the surrounding area and searched. A sheriff’s K-9 unit found the suspect at about 3a.m.

Falling branch cuts power lines

NORWALK – About 1,567 Southern California Edison customers in the Norwalk area were left in the dark Monday after a tree branch fell on several power lines.

By Monday afternoon, 224 customers were still without power. Boyd expected power to be restored after 6 p.m.

The incident happened at 9:58 a.m. on Roper Avenue, north of Molette Street.

He said the area affected by the outage was north of Cheshire Street, south of Imperial Highway, east of Pioneer Boulevard and west of Shoemaker Avenue

Mental health group plans event

WHITTIER – NAMI Whittier – the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness – will holds its educational/business meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in Room 121 of the Wesley Building of First United Methodist Church, 6725 Friends St.

The speaker will be Ingrid Marchus from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. She will discuss the implementation of Proposition 63.

Come and find out how it will change services in your area and how the community can get involved.

The meeting is open to the public.

For more information, call Rita Murray, (562) 692-8006.

Adventist school to hold open house

WHITTIER – Whittier Adventist Elementary School, 8841 S. Calmada Ave., will hold an open house for its kindergarten program from

10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. today for fall enrollment.

Parents can receive registration information, see the campus, meet the teachers and other parents.

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